Give Kevorkian his due

Re “Dr. Death, American icon,” Opinion, June 2

I agree with Meghan Daum that someday we will honor Jack Kevorkian on a postage stamp. His incarceration for helping Thomas Youk end his suffering is one of the great miscarriages of justice of our time. Margaret Sanger, who fought for the right of women to limit the size of their families, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the suffragettes who battled for women’s’ enfranchisement all spent time in jail for pursuing their causes. All have been celebrated on postage stamps. Daum believes that it will be a long time before Kevorkian is so honored. I think not. Polls have repeatedly shown that a wide majority of Americans believe in a terminally ill patient’s right to a physician’s aid in dying. It’s only a matter of time before all states enact Oregon-type laws.

RICHARD E. GOODMAN

Camarillo